Archive for July, 2012

As you know, I posted a previous article on a documentary entitled The Cove. Well, this is a continuation of that, which will be split into three parts.

Fishermen believe it is their cultural right; they put up netting and barbed wire in a national park to stop the public from seeing what goes on in the cove at Taiji. In this latest programme – called Blood Dolphin$ – Lincoln O’Barry and Pete Zuccarini swim into the cove itself to see if it is being prepared for yet another hunt, finding evidence of past kills.

To their surprise, there was a camera on a pole and a nearby van keeping watch, both elements that were not present before. They decide to visit Futo, as five days has passed since the hunting season began and there appears to be no activity. A great place for scuba diving, Futo is a popular tourist destination that holds a dark secret.

Not too long ago, Futo was also a place of slaughter. However, thanks to Izumi Ishii this is no longer the case. About twenty years, during a hunt he looked into the eyes of a dolphin and experienced a personal epiphany. Releasing his prey, Ishii went from exploiter to defender, now preferring to show tourists free dolphin as opposed to the aftermath of his previously bloody trade.

Meanwhile, Earth Island Institute’s Ric O’Barry and his son, Lincoln, continue their crusade to close down Taiji’s cove activities for good, hoping it can follow the emple set by Futo. Unfortunately, their diversion is cut short with a phone call notifying Ric that boats have yet again been seen with their poles (used to round up olphins by generating loud noise).

On their return to Taiji, the O’Barrys gather footage from a contact and are astounded to learn that for the first time ever a group of approximately sixty specimens were freed as opposed to being killed. The next day, along with photographer Kate Tomlinson, Ric hopes that yet another newly-captured pod will receive a similarly happy ending.

Despite their initial hope, soon they receive increasingly hostile requests from the fishermen to shut off all recording equipment. Incredibly, the workers fear that by being identified their livelihoods may be jeopardised, especially considering the mounting concerns of other countries in the wake of The Cove’s release and subsequent success.

With covert cameras still rolling, O’Barry and his team enter deep into nearby bushes as the dolphins are driven further into the killing cove. The water now red with blood, Ric’s son Lincoln now witnesses his first live hunt as the corpses are placed onto a barge where they will be gutted, their organs separated before the remains are then passed over to a smaller boat for disposal.

At this point, the O’Barrys are forced to watch as dolphin after dolphin is dragged to the slaughter house. Oblivious they are being watched, the hunters then place a tarpaulin over the removed contents from the murdered creatures, seemingly in a failed attempt to cover the truth of what happened that evening.

Regardless of past minor victories, at least a dozen animals died on just this single occasion, trainers turning a blind eye to those not selected yet prepared to pay anything between $100-154K for each dolpin that they keep alive. Although still active, it is hoped the rise of coverage in Japanese media will help force a closure of this barbaric act.

I urge you to please join me in campaigning against dolphin hunting, and in my next post I will cover Ric O’Barry taking his battle to the Solomon Islands…